White-Nose Syndrome Sending Some Bat Species Close to Extinction

A bat infected with white nose sydrome. Photo courtesy: USFWS Headquarters / CC BY 2.0

As many as 1 million bats, it was believed, had been killed by white nose syndrome — a mysterious fungus that attacks hibernating bats. However, this estimate, based on data collected in 2009, has proven to be dramatically lower than reality. According to a new study, as many as 6.7 million bats in North America have died due to the white nose outbreak.

"Bats are dying in frighteningly huge numbers and several species are hurtling toward the black hole of extinction," Mollie Matteson, a researcher with the Center for Biological Diversity, commented, and they are dying at a rate that makes this syndrome the worst wildlife disease epidemic in North American history.

Some species have experienced reductions of as much as 70 percent in the last few years. Such dramatic reductions makes these populations more vulnerable to other threats, too — things like pollution, habitat loss, and pressure from invasive species.

Moreover, the spread of the syndrome represents a serious economic threat. Bats are valued at between $3.7 billion and $53 billion per year, based on the amount of pesticides they save farmers. Currently, the epidemic has been confined to the East Coast, where agricultural development is relatively low. As it spreads west — and it is spreading farther west each season — researchers expect farmers to be met with a more noticeable impact.

Three Hamburger Giants Ban the Use of "Pink Slime"

Photo courtesy: theimpulsivebuy/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I have done several blogs on the evils of fast food. McDonald's has long been a favourite target of mine. From using eggs from battery hens (cruelty) to serving ordinance changes in Santa Clara, CA these food giants have a lot to answer for.

And who can forget the blog about a McHappy meal left on an office shelf for one year that didn't look much different one year later than the day it was shelved. Let's move on to the artist who bought 10 hamburgers and proceed to "paint" a giant picture of the Mona Lisa using only the grease from the patties. You'd think that would be enough; but, wait...now we have pink slime.

Bolivia has caused McDonald's to close all its restaurants in their country. Bolivians believe that food shows how much you love and respect your family and friends. Food is never cooked "fast" - it's a sign of disrespect to the community. What an enlightened attitude. Good on Bolivia!

Now I have discovered yet another way these corporations destroy our health while picking our pockets. Read on to find out about "pink slime" an integral ingredient in those burger patties the world wolfs down at an alarming rate. There are a few other gross ingredients that will also be outed here. If this doesn't swear you off fast food burgers for life then the pink slime has already affected your brain cells; and, there may be no help.

It’s been a rough year for ammoniated beef. It’s a fancy name for a scary practice cooked up by Beef Products Inc, a company that saw sales plummet by 25 percent this year due to the general public responding to questionable meat processing practices. And most recently, the decision by Taco Bell, McDonald's, and Burger King to stop use of the industry named "pink slime." Pink Slime? This can't be good.

Food Safety News reported on the process:

Beef Products Inc. uses an innovative process to turn fatty beef trimmings, which used to go mainly into pet food and other byproducts, into hamburger filler. Because the trimmings are at risk for E. coli or Salmonella contamination, the company adds a mixture of ammonia and water (ammonium hydroxide) to kill bacteria.

It’s been called “pink slime" by none other than the USDA. It behooves me to ask at this point: If the USDA (who are supposed to be watching out for the public health) called it pink slime, why in the world did they ever approve it?

The New York Times reports that a "[USDA] microbiologist, Gerald Zirnstein, called the processed beef "pink slime" in a 2002 e-mail message to colleagues and said, “I do not consider the stuff to be ground beef, and I consider allowing it in ground beef to be a form of fraudulent labeling.”

More and more people learned about the process from the popular movie Food, Inc. And then there was its appearance on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. “[Oliver] called the "clever scientific process" shocking and a breach of consumer trust.” Especially considering that according to The New York Times, the federal school lunch program used 5.5 million pounds of ammoniated beef in 2008. These are our children, our future. Why are we not providing them with nurishing, body-building fuel so they can develop to their fullest potential? After all, these are people who will grow up to rule the world; and, my pension.

Apparently all the bad press eventually took its toll and at the end of 2011 three mega-chains: Taco Bell, McDonald's, and Burger King all announced that they would be discontinuing use of the product.

Both McDonald's and Burger King claim that the move isn't in reaction to all the bad publicity (of course, not)and Taco Bell gave no comment (at least, they didn't lie) on the matter. But whatever the reason, it comes not a moment too soon.

Ammoniated meat became the dirty little secret of the meat industry because it was excluded from recalls and random testing because the ammonia treatment was supposed to make contamination much less likely. The only problem was it didn't work.

The New York Times reports of specific problems with the beef in lunchrooms:

[G]overnment and industry records obtained by The New York Times show that in testing for the school lunch program, E. coli and salmonella pathogens have been found dozens of times in Beef Products meat, challenging claims by the company and the U.S.D.A. about the effectiveness of the treatment. Since 2005, E. coli has been found 3 times and salmonella 48 times, including back-to-back incidents in August in which two 27,000-pound batches were found to be contaminated. The meat was caught before reaching lunch-rooms trays.

Even worse, ammonia isn't listed on any ingredient labels because it's considered a "processing agent" even though it's completely misleading to think that it doesn't end up in the final product. How fraudulent is this?

This is proof positive that the public does care about what they're putting into their bodies especially when the facts come to light. And it goes to show that truth in labeling could mean the end to other questionable practices like genetically modified ingredients and meat glue, for example.

First Ever Photos of Panda Eating Meat

Photo courtesy: The Nature Conservancy

Never say never. Pandas eat bamboo shoots and leaves. And sometimes a little meat, scientists say. But a picture of a panda eating meat is rare. So check it out: A panda eating a meal of takin, aka Himalayan goat-antelope.

The picture, shared by The Nature Conservancy, was captured by motion-sensor cameras in northern Sichuan, China.

Photo courtesy: The Nature Conservancy

Thankfully, the Giant panda here didn't hunt and kill the takin. That wouldn't be very vegetarian of him, or her. The meat is the carcass of a takin that died several days before due to natural causes, Conservancy reps say. Takins, like pandas, are endangered. Here's a live one.

Photo courtesy: The Nature Conservancy

The panda seen in the meat photos is living in what will be the Motianling County Land Trust Reserve, a project of the Conservancy, Peking University and local government partners. It's the country's first Land Trust Reserve, and "one of the most important remaining pieces of giant panda habitat left in the world," Conservancy scientists say.

It goes to show there's still a lot we don't know about pandas and their behavior, says Zhao Peng, who's leading the Motianling project for the Conservancy. Apparently, they used to be carnivores, but evolved into herbivores.

We probably should protect them in places like this. This reserve is one of the last places on Earth you'll find these endangered pandas living in the wild. Here, there are about 20. In China, about 2,000.

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Lantzville Decides Not to Jail Local Man

Photo courtesy: © Living-On-Purpose-Lynn

This past summer I told you about BC farmer Dirk Becker's fight with the local elected government that could have ended with a six-month jail sentence. His crime? Becker and his partner Nicole Shaw were growing food for sale on their 2.5 acre residentially-zoned semi-rural lot in the town of Lantzville on Vancouver Island. What seems to be a dispute started by one disgruntled neighbour that was then taken up by the town mayor and some members of city council was ended on election day.

Photo courtesy: Dirk Becker via TreeHugger

Once he had transformed the land and planted a few crops, he decided he could sell some of his extra produce to his neighbours. It would put a few dollars "walkabout money" in his jean's pocket. Becker and Shaw received one complaint from one neighbour who felt their manure and/or compost was offensive; as if the previous garbage, etc. wasn't. Give me organic produce any day over barren junk yards. It seems that although there are horses and cattle being kept in the same vicinity, the organic farm (1 entire acre) was too rural for the town's by-laws. It quickly became an issue that divided the town; however....

This past November citizens in Lantzville voted out the incumbent mayor Colin Haime, in part because of the issue surrounding Becker and Shaw. In his closing written address as mayor Haime had the following to say about the farmers' supporters:

You supported an individual who thumbed his nose up at the bylaws of the community and its residents including his neighbour. You have set the precedent whereby laws are now set by conflict. The loudest one wins. At the same time you abandoned and ridiculed law abiding citizens who were only interested in the piece (sic) and enjoyment of their own property. You want the right to do as you please but you deny the rights of others the same thing.

The urban farming issue wasn't the only contentious issue during the election but newly elected mayor Jack de Jong did use it as leverage to convince people to vote for him. De Jong said his biggest priority is to secure a reliable source of water for the community and that the urban farming issue was distracting city council from achieving that goal.

Becker is happy that the pressure is now off of him and says:

Our new mayor shows all the hallmarks of being warm, friendly, reasonable, collaborative and big picture oriented.
My sense is that he wants to move on and not waste any more of our citizens money and time in the form of legal proceedings and also staff time.

There is no guarantee that Becker and Shaw won't run into trouble with local bylaws since none have been changed thus far, but until then:

Nicole and I will continue farming for a living as we have for over 6 of the 12 years we have worked this land and selling at the farmers market we started. If the district of Lantzville offers us 'spot zoning' or anything that would be a positive contribution to our community and reduce the degree our one neighbor can make council's lives difficult we are totally open to that.

Via TreeHugger.com

First Picture of New Species of Snub-Nosed Monkey

Photo courtesy: FFI/BANCA/PRCF/via

When a new species of 'snub-nosed' monkey was discovered in 2010, the world's only glimpse came in the form of one researcher's photo-reconstruction since the elusive animal hadn't yet been photographed in the wild. But now, thanks to remote camera traps set in the forests of northern Myanmar, the very first photo of the distinctive-looking monkey, alive and free, have been captured -- offering important insights about a species still largely shrouded in mystery.

Although previously undiscovered by western scientists, for Myanmarese locals this 'snub-nosed' species was already fairly well known as "monkey with an upturned face" on account of its striking vissage. Also, they said because of its upward-aiming nose, the monkeys could be heard sneezing in the forests whenever it happened to rain. When researchers came to confirm its existence as a new species, all they had to go on was a dead specimen that had been poached by a hunter -- prompting them to release a photoshopped image of the animal along with their news release to the public.

Recently, however, camera traps installed in the species' rugged forest habitat yielded the first images of a living snub-nosed monkey.

Photo courtesy: FFI/BANCA/PRCF/via

"These images are the first record of the animal in its natural habitat," Ngwe Lwin, the first person to identify the monkey as a new species, tells Mongabay. "It is great to finally have photographs because they show us something about how and where it actually lives."

Among the images captured by the camera traps set out by researcher Jeremy Holden and his team was evidence of family groups -- an important discovery in an of itself regarding a species thought to number around 200 members.

"The images are poor quality compared to what we are now used to seeing from wildlife photographers, but this somehow exemplifies the fact that these monkeys are rare, mysterious, and on the brink," says Holden.

Few details may be known about snub-nosed monkeys in Myanmar given their recent discovery, but there is no doubt that they are imperiled due to a number of human threats, from hunting to habitat loss related to deforestation. The team involved in capturing photographs of the animal alive and in the wild hope it will help spur programs towards their protection -- lest such images are all that are to remain of them.

Capuchin Monkeys are More Intelligent Than Originally Thought

Photo courtesy: © vincentraal

It is said that the ability to use tools is an important commonality shared between humans and non-human primates -- likewise, so it seems, is the desire to be free. In the early hours one morning, a group of eight capuchin monkeys made a remarkably clever escape from a zoo in Brazil. Much to the surprise of staffers at the small facility, the daring monkeys appear to have used a stone tool to break the locks of their enclosure before fleeing into the surrounding forest.

Of the eight monkey to escape the facility in the Brazilian state of Paraná, officials have only managed to capture four so far. Zoo coordinator Gladis Dalamina told Globo (in Spanish) that fruit-lined cage traps were successful in capturing three of the monkeys in the hours after the break out. The forth was found a day later after it broke into a nearby restaurant.

"It was a surprise because this isn't the jungle here, and to have [a monkey] enter my establishment," said the restaurant owner. "It was fun."

Dalamina says that he and his staff will continue to try to track down the rest of the escapees, but that he thinks he's already nabbed the brains of the zoo-break -- an older monkey named Ceará, along with his girlfriend Amarela. According to officials, this isn't the first time monkeys have tried to escape the small community zoo, though using a stone tool has been their most surprising and effective method yet.

"Their job is to run. Our's is to catch."

Capuchin monkeys are thought to be the most intelligent of the New World monkeys, exhibiting a remarkable ability to use stone tools. Researchers have observed capuchins in the wild gathering rocks, often collected from great distances away, to help them to crack open hard nuts. This skill is passed on generationally as younger monkeys learn by watching their elders.

It is my personal belief the reason the true intelligence level of animals is not recognized by humans because we refuse to recognize that we may not be the most intelligent beings on the planet. No animal has the excessive, obsessive need for more that we humans have. Animals on the other hand take only what they need, leave what they don't need; and, sometimes, accidentally plant some more while providing a perfectly organic, non-toxic fertilizer to nourish the tiny seedling to come. When they come back to that spot again, there is still food to be found.

We go back to the same spot again and we find desertification of the land; damaged ecosystems; displaced species; polluted rivers; toxic land; and on ad nauseum.

Science feels that applying this same tool usage to the novel task of breaking locks; however, indicates an extraordinary use of logic to solve the unnatural dilemma of their captivity. But what's more, perhaps, is the fundamental desire which guided their actions: the longing to be free.

I say the intelligence has always been there, we just haven't been able to recognize it.

The Moringa Tree

All photos courtesy: Trees For Life International

A while ago, I did on blog on using seashells for water purification. One of my readers "aloecalico" left a comment recommending moringa seeds for water purification. Aloecalico is correct. Moringa trees are called the "miracle tree" or the "magic tree" because all parts of the tree can be used and it is a powerhouse of nutrition with many other benefits. The moringa tree is such a benefit to a family and/or their community that World Vision offers moringa trees in their gift catalogues.

Imagine a tree in your backyard that will meet all your nutritional needs, take care of you medicinally, and purify your water for you. This tree actually exists. For centuries, the natives of northern India and many parts of Africa have known of the many benefits of Moringa oleifera. Its uses are as unique as the names it is known by, such as clarifier tree, horseradish tree and drumstick tree (referring to the large drumstick shaped pods) and in East Africa it is called "mother's best friend”. Virtually every part of the tree can be used. Native only to the foothills of the Himalayas, it is now widely cultivated in Africa, Central and South America, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and the Philippines. This tree, though little known in the Western world, is nutritional dynamite. There are literally hundreds of uses for this tree.

Areas where moringa trees grow.

The immature pods are the most valued and widely used of all the tree parts. The pods are extremely nutritious, containing all the essential amino acids along with many vitamins and other nutrients. The immature pod can be eaten raw or prepared like green peas or green beans, while the mature pods are usually fried and possess a peanut-like flavor. The pods also yield 38 - 40% of non-drying, edible oil known as Ben Oil. This oil is clear, sweet and odorless, and never becomes rancid.

Overall, its nutritional value most closely resembles olive oil. The thickened root is used as a substitute for horseradish although this is now discouraged as it contains alkaloids, especially moriginine, and a bacteriocide, spirochin, both of which can prove fatal following ingestion. (The same goes for rhubarb. The red stalk is edible; but, the green leaves will kill you.) The leaves are eaten as greens, in salads, in vegetable curries, as pickles and for seasoning. They can be pounded up and used for scrubbing utensils and for cleaning walls. Leaves and young branches are relished by livestock. The Bark can be used for tanning and also yields a coarse fiber. The flowers, which must be cooked, are eaten either mixed with other foods or fried in batter and have been shown to be rich in potassium and calcium.

In developing tropical countries, Moringa trees have been used to combat malnutrition, especially among infants and nursing mothers. Three non-governmental organizations in particular - Trees for Life, Church World Service and Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization - advocate Moringa as “natural nutrition for the tropics.” Leaves can be eaten fresh, cooked, or stored as dried powder for many months without refrigeration, and without loss of nutritional value. Moringa is especially promising as a food source in the tropics because the tree is in full leaf at the end of the dry season when other foods are typically scarce. Analyses of the leaf composition have revealed them to have significant quantities of vitamins A, B and C, calcium, iron and protein. According to Optima of Africa, Ltd., a group that has been working with the tree in Tanzania, "25 grams daily of Moringa Leaf Powder will give a child" the following recommended daily allowances:

Protein 42%, Calcium 125%, Magnesium 61%, Potassium 41%, Iron 71%, Vitamin A 272%, and Vitamin C 22%. These numbers are particularly astounding; considering this nutrition is available when other food sources may be scarce.

Countries with 5%-35% population malnourished.

Scientific research confirms that these humble leaves are a powerhouse of nutritional value. Gram for gram, Moringa leaves contain: SEVEN times the vitamin C in oranges, FOUR times the Calcium in milk, FOUR times the vitamin A in carrots, TWO times the protein in milk and THREE times the Potassium in bananas.

The Moringa tree has great use medicinally both as preventative and treatment. Much of the evidence is anecdotal as there has been little actual scientific research done to support these claims. India's ancient tradition of ayurveda says the leaves of the Moringa tree prevent 300 diseases. One area in which there has been significant scientific research is the reported antibiotic activity of this tree.

This is clearly the area in which the preponderance of evidence - both classical scientific and anecdotal evidence - is overwhelming. The scientific evidence has now been available for over 50 years, although much of it is completely unknown to western scientists. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s a team from India identified a compound they called pterygospermin. This group was also able to demonstrate its mode of antimicrobial action in the mid 1950’s. Field reports and ecological studies form part of a rich traditional medicine history claiming efficacy of leaf, seed, root, bark, and flowers against a variety of dermal and internal infections. In 1964 other active compounds were isolated and tested in-vitro, and these studies, along with observational studies provide a very plausible mechanism of action for the centuries of claims of efficacy. Unfortunately, because many of the reports of antibiotic efficacy in humans are not supported by placebo controlled, randomized clinical trials, Western medical prejudice leaves the Western world ignorant of Moringa’s antibiotic properties.

Another area of folklore which research supports is in cancer treatment. Moringa species have long been recognized by folk medicine practitioners as having value in the treatment of tumors. Studies examined certain compounds for their cancer preventive potential. Recently two of these compounds were shown to be potent inhibitors of activation of lymphoblastoid (Burkitt’s lymphoma) cells. One of these compounds also inhibited tumors in mice bred to be prone to tumors. In another study, Bharali and colleagues examined skin tumor prevention following ingestion of drumstick (Moringa seedpod) extracts. In this mouse model, which included appropriate positive and negative controls, a dramatic reduction in skin tumors was demonstrated. More rigorous study is required in order to achieve a level of proof required for full medical endorsement of Moringa as, in this case, a cancer preventative plant.

After the oil is extracted from the pods, the seed-cake remaining contains the active components for removing turbidity (solid particles) from water. Because bacteria adhere to the solids, this seed-cake also effectively removes bacteria. At the Thyolo Water Treatment Works in Malawi, Africa, two researchers from the University of Leicester, England, have worked on substituting moringa seeds for alum to remove solids in water for drinking. Not only were the tests successful in removing as much solid material as alum, but the seeds used were "purchased from enthusiastic villagers in Nsanje Region in Malawi" (Folkard and Sutherland, 1996. Not only is Moringa oleifera as effective as aluminum sulphate (alum) in removing suspended solids from turbid water, it has a major advantage. Because it can be produced locally, "using Moringa rather than alum would save foreign exchange and generate farm and employment income." The potential for Moringa to create a new market for a community is there, and studies and projects are taking place examining this potential. Use of this natural substance would also remove a source of aluminum contamination.

This tree is truly a “miracle” tree offering hope; nutritionally, medicinally and economically to devastatingly poor 3rd world countries. It has just recently begun being used as a supplement in a juice form and in powdered leaf tablets.

This video shows how truly amazing the moringa trees are:

Condemned Urban Trees Turned Into Rideable Bicycles

Photo courtesy: Spots Unknown via TreeHugger.com

Sometimes an idea comes along that makes me smile all over. This is that type of idea. I'll bet there are many people who would like to ride on the tree they used to swing from as a child.

There's no doubt that we have a definite soft spot for wooden bicycles, but these hand-crafted bikes made from condemned city trees give these otherwise stylish bikes a more poignant history than you might imagine. Made by San Francisco-based carpenters Bill Holloway and Mauro Hernandez of Masterworks Woodworking, the material for these beautiful vehicles come from 'unsafe' trees that have met an untimely end -- often from family properties, now inherited by grown children who remember playing in them.

Photo courtesy: Urban Tree to Bicycle from Spots Unknown on Vimeo.

The point, says Holloway, is to keep the cherished tree alive, even as it's condemned:

With the urban wood, we know where it comes from, and we know a bit of the history of the tree so you get a story with it. [The grown children] remember playing in that tree in the yard as a kid and you know, now their parents have passed, so they now own the house and the tree is dying or unsafe for some reason. And they think it's cool that we can come and salvage that tree and give it a second life and give it back to them as something that they can ride, so that it continues on.

Both Holloway and Hernandez are self-taught, and through their professional practice attempt to maintain old-school traditions of working the wood by hand as much as possible. It's a great way to make functional and creative works of art, out of something that would have otherwise been relegated to memory or wood chips.

Check out the video!

World's First Hybrid Sharks Discovered

Photo courtesy: University of Queensland

Sharks are one of the oldest species on the planet, having honed their sleek, aquatic-killer image only over millions of years of evolution -- and as if that alone wasn't enough to strike a bit of fear in us would-be oceangoers, it turns out sharks getting even more specialized. For the first time ever, researchers have detected not one, not two, but 57 hybrid sharks lurking off the the coast of Australia. While the thought of new, possibly extra-powerful sharks may leave some people feeling less than enthusiastic about heading into the water, marine biologists say that these offspring of two genetically distinct species actually represent an extraordinary and totally unprecedented discovery in the world of sharks.

The University of Queensland reports that in five different spots along a 1,200 miles stretch of Australia's eastern coastline, researchers found nearly 60 sharks that were the product of interbreeding between two separate, albeit similarly named species: common blacktip sharks (C. limbatus) and Australian blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus tilstoni). Discovering just a handful of hybrid sharks would be enough to excite ocean scientists, but what they ran across instead proved that it was no fluke.

"To find 57 hybrids along 2000km of coastline is unprecedented," says Dr. Jennifer Ovenden from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.

So what could drive this seemingly prolific spawning of hybrids among sharks? Well, according to Ovenden, the need to keep up with rising ocean temperatures may have led to the rise of this new, presumably more advantageous hybrid shark varieties.

"Hybridization could enable the sharks to adapt to environmental change as the smaller Australian black tip currently favours tropical waters in the north while the larger common black tip is more abundant in sub-tropical and temperate waters along the south-eastern Australian coastline."

The findings of a new hybrid species of shark goes to show just how versatile life can be in dealing with the ecosystem altering forces of climate change -- proving yet again that within the depths of the world's oceans and its most keenly adapted inhabitants, there may be no shortage of natural marvels and awesome phenomena left to be discovered.

The Platform of Hope

Photo courtesy: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum/Video screen capture

I love stories where good things happen because one person cared. Too often we say, "But what can I do, I'm only one person?" This "platform of hope" came about because one man cared enough to start the ball rolling; and, that ball kept gathering substance and momentum.

To those of us in the developed countries who are fortunate enough to live where greenery and nature still exist and easily accessible this platform may not seem like much; but, to the people who use it - it is an amazing place.

Watch the video at the end of the blog to see how this simple platform has transformed lives and attitudes.

Korail, home to 120,000, is the largest slum in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Located at the center of the city, to say space is at a premium is something of an understatement. Dhaka itself has a population of 15 million, and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) predicts that it will be the second largest city in the world by 2015.

In Korail, boxed in by a growing wealthy neighborhood and a lake, increasing density precludes public spaces where residents can gather and children can play. But a small project is proof that residents can take matters into their own hands and make their home a better place.

Photo courtesy: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum/Video screen capture

The Platform of Hope (Ashar Macha) was first proposed in 2007 by landscape architect Khondaker Hasibul Kabir of BRAC University. New to the area, Kabir moved in with family of Fourkan Pervez . Together they transformed the home into a lush community garden.

Then they brought in a carpenter and a bamboo worker and built a platform extending over Gulshan Lake, connected to the garden via a bridge. The Platform of Hope, which measures 18 by 36 feet, now serves as a space where local children can gather and play. It also houses a small library.

It was featured at the Design with the Other 90% exhibit put on by the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

Photo courtesy: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum/Video screen capture

Of course, the platform and garden are too small to serve a significant portion of Korail's population. But this is a project that could easily be replicated; no major funding or investments were required. It provides a rare space where Korail's impoverished residents can enjoy fresh air and greenery, benefits the developed world too often takes for granted.